


Dead Poem's Still Alive

by banditess



Series: Ardynoct Week 2017 [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Scars, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 13:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12277359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banditess/pseuds/banditess
Summary: Ardyn reveals his identity to Noct at the Crystal in Zegnautus Keep...but in this Universe, Lucian Royalty are born with wings.





	Dead Poem's Still Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ardynoct Week Day 5: Scars. Enjoy! :)

“Unharmed by the Light. The Chosen King, indeed,” Ardyn scoffed.  
  
Noctis grunts and groans as he struggles against the Crystal, trying desperately to find some sort of leverage to pry himself from its grip. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen -- he was supposed to find the Crystal at the Keep, take it back, and use its Light to repel the daemons, stopping the darkness that was encroaching on the world…wasn’t he? But if that was the case, then why was the Crystal _sucking him in_? He had tried pulling his hands out normally to no avail, pushing off with his feet, and finally, when neither of those had succeeded, he decided to use his wings.  
  
Noct’s wings were not always visible -- only when he wished for them to be -- and as they tended to get in the way of things, he normally kept them hidden. Only Lucian royalty were born winged, so it wasn’t as though many doors, chairs, or vehicles outside of the Crown City had been built with _allowances_ for wingspans. It was just easier to go without them as a default -- _especially_ if you happened to be a Lucian Prince in hiding.  
  
But now? He needed the extra strength. Noct unfurls his raven-black wings and beats them against the stagnant air of the Keep, while pulling against the Crystal’s power with his arms and pressing his boots into the catwalk.  
  
“Oh, _Noct_ , I admire your _tenacity_. And your wings are _breathtaking_ to behold, though they don’t seem to be doing you much good at present.” Ardyn chuckles.  
  
As Noctis continues to flap helplessly, feathers flying off in all directions, Ardyn casually saunters up before him. “You know, Noctis, we’re not so different, you and I. I too once went on a journey like yours. Would you care to see how _mine_ concluded?”  
  
Noct isn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly isn’t for Ardyn to suddenly start undressing. He shrugs off his black jacket and lays it over the railing, then starts undoing the buckle holding his vests. Noctis is his captive audience, watching as Ardyn removes layer after layer of scarf and shirt. Eventually he is left bare chested, and though Noct will admit he has some impressive muscles for an old man, he’s not really sure why he’s being shown this.  
  
“I can see the confusion in your eyes. Perhaps it might help if I turned _this way_?”  
  
Ardyn turns around, exposing the skin of his back to Noctis, and Noct’s eyes go wide. Two long, deep gashes run parallel to his shoulderblades, scar tissue from gruesome wounds made long ago. Noct feels sick to his stomach -- it _can’t_ be --  
  
Ardyn glances at him over his shoulder, gauging his reaction. “Ah, I see you’ve put two and two together. Well _done_ , Noctis.” He turns and closes the distance between them, reaching out a gloved hand to stroke one of Noct’s jet-black wings. Noctis shudders and half-growls in response. “Indeed, in an age long past, I was born a Lucis Caelum -- winged just as you are.”  
  
He begins to pace in front of the Crystal. “ _Oh_ , but my wings were _glorious_ , Noct! Would that you could have _seen_ them! But they were _stolen_ from me. _Ripped_ from my body by a jealous king who wanted the power I held -- the power to heal the people of the plague that besieged them, and thereby secure their favor. He turned my allies against me, and in one final act of cruelty, they held me down and tore my wings away like a _child_ does to a _fly_. I cannot describe the pain to you, Noctis. Like being _consumed_ by flames.” Ardyn looks away, his expression dolorous. “Oh, _Noct_ , seeing you stretching your wings now gives me the _deep urge_ to stretch my own, yet I cannot.”  
  
Even if Noct knew what to say to Ardyn, he’s almost completely absorbed into the Crystal, and its strange power is crushing his lungs in a way that makes it difficult to find the breath to speak. This couldn’t possibly be _true_ , could it? But Noct can see Ardyn’s scars with his own two eyes -- and he knows in his heart it must be real.  
  
“Only once the Crystal and King -- those who took all from me -- are no more...can I know redemption,” Noct hears Ardyn say as the last of him slips into the Light of the Crystal’s interior world.  
  
Noctis curls his wings around himself as he floats inside the Crystal, and thinks what it would be like to have them taken from him.


End file.
